Compact wastewater concentrator using waste heat

ABSTRACT

A compact and portable liquid concentrator includes a gas inlet, a gas exit and a flow corridor connecting the gas inlet and the gas exit, wherein the flow corridor includes a narrowed portion that accelerates the gas through the flow corridor. A liquid inlet injects liquid into the gas stream at a point prior to the narrowed portion so that the gas-liquid mixture is thoroughly mixed within the flow corridor, causing a portion of the liquid to be evaporated. A demister or fluid scrubber downstream of the narrowed portion removes entrained liquid droplets from the gas stream and re-circulates the removed liquid to the liquid inlet through a re-circulating circuit. Fresh liquid to be concentrated is also introduced into the re-circulating circuit at a rate sufficient to offset the amount of liquid evaporated in the flow corridor.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICTION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/059,795, filed Oct. 22, 2013, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/705,462, filed Feb.12, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,568,557, which is a continuation in partof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/530,484, filed on Sep. 9, 2009,which is a U.S. national phase application of International (PCT) PatentApplication No. PCT/US08/005672 filed Mar. 12, 2008 and which claimspriority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/906,743,filed on Mar. 13, 2007. This application also claims priority benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/152,248, filed Feb. 12, 2009,and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/229,650, filed Jul. 29,2009. The entire disclosures of each of application Ser. Nos.12/530,484; 60/906,743; 61/152,248; and 61/229,650 are hereby expresslyincorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This application relates generally to liquid concentrators, and morespecifically to compact, portable, inexpensive wastewater concentratorsthat can be easily connected to and use sources of waste heat.

BACKGROUND

Concentration of volatile substances can be an effective form oftreatment or pretreatment for a broad variety of wastewater streams andmay be carried out within various types of commercial processingsystems. At high levels of concentration, many wastewater streams may bereduced to residual material in the form of slurries containing highlevels of dissolved and suspended solids. Such concentrated residual maybe readily solidified by conventional techniques for disposal withinlandfills or, as applicable, delivered to downstream processes forfurther treatment prior to final disposal. Concentrating wastewater cangreatly reduce freight costs and required storage capacity and may bebeneficial in downstream processes where materials are recovered fromthe wastewater.

Characteristics of industrial wastewater streams are very broad as aresult of the large number of industrial processes that produce them. Inaddition to wastewater produced by design under controlled conditionswithin industry, uncontrolled events arising from accidents and naturaldisasters frequently generate wastewater. Techniques for managingwastewater include: direct discharge to sewage treatment plants;pretreatment followed by discharge to sewage treatment plants; on-siteor off-site processes to reclaim valuable constituents; and on-site oroff-site treatment to simply prepare the wastewater for ultimatedisposal. Where the wastewater source is an uncontrolled event,effective containment and recovery techniques must be included with anyof these options.

An important measure of the effectiveness of a wastewater concentrationprocess is the volume of residual produced in proportion to the volumeof wastewater entering the process. In particular, low ratios ofresidual volume to feed volume (high levels of concentration) are themost desirable. Where the wastewater contains dissolved and/or suspendednon-volatile matter, the volume reduction that may be achieved in aparticular concentration process that relies on evaporation of volatilesis, to a great extent, limited by the method chosen to transfer heat tothe process fluid.

Conventional processes that affect concentration by evaporation of waterand other volatile substances may be classified as direct or indirectheat transfer systems depending upon the method employed to transferheat to the liquid undergoing concentration (the process fluid).Indirect heat transfer devices generally include jacketed vessels thatcontain the process fluid, or plate, bayonet tube or coil type heatexchangers that are immersed within the process fluid. Mediums such assteam or hot oil are passed through the jackets or heat exchangers inorder to transfer the heat required for evaporation. Direct heattransfer devices implement processes where the heating medium is broughtinto direct contact with the process fluid, which occurs in, forexample, submerged combustion gas systems.

Indirect heat transfer systems that rely on heat exchangers such asjackets, plates, bayonet tubes or coils are generally limited by thebuildup of deposits of solids on the surfaces of the heat exchangersthat come into direct contact with the process fluid. Also, the designof such systems is complicated by the need for a separate process totransfer heat energy to the heating medium such as a steam boiler ordevices used to heat other heat transfer fluids such as hot oil heaters.This design leads to dependence on two indirect heat transfer systems tosupport the concentration process. Feed streams that produce deposits onheat exchangers while undergoing processing are called fouling fluids.Where feed streams contain certain compounds such as carbonates forwhich solubility decreases with increasing temperature, deposits,generally known as boiler scale, will form even at relatively lowconcentrations due to the elevated temperatures at the surfaces of theheat exchangers. Further, when compounds that have high solubility atelevated temperatures such as sodium chloride are present in thewastewater feed, they will also form deposits by precipitating out ofthe solution as the process fluid reaches high concentrations. Suchdeposits, which necessitate frequent cycles of heat exchange surfacecleaning to maintain process efficiency, may be any combination ofsuspended solids carried into the process with the wastewater feed andsolids that precipitate out of the process fluid. The deleteriouseffects of deposition of solids on heat exchange surfaces limits thelength of time that indirect heat transfer processes may be operatedbefore these processes must be shut down for periodic cleaning. Thesedeleterious effects thereby impose practical limits on the range ofwastewater that might be effectively managed, especially when the rangeof wastewater includes fouling fluids. Therefore, processes that rely onindirect heat transfer mechanisms are generally unsuitable forconcentrating wide varieties of wastewater streams and achieving lowratios of residual to feed volume.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,482, which is hereby incorporated by reference,discloses a particular type of direct heat transfer concentrator in theform of a submerged gas process wherein combustion gas is generated anddelivered though an inlet pipe to a dispersal unit submerged within theprocess fluid. The dispersal unit includes a number of spaced-apart gasdelivery pipes extending radially outwardly from the inlet pipe, each ofthe gas delivery pipes having small holes spaced apart at variouslocations on the surface of the gas delivery pipe to disperse thecombustion gas as small bubbles as uniformly as practical across thecross-sectional area of the liquid held within a processing vessel.According to current understanding within the prior art, this designprovides desirable intimate contact between the liquid and the hot gasover a large interfacial surface area. In this process, the intent isthat both heat and mass transfer occur at the dynamic and continuouslyrenewable interfacial surface area formed by the dispersion of a gasphase in a process fluid, and not at solid heat exchange surfaces onwhich deposition of solid particles can occur. Thus, this submerged gasconcentrator process provides a significant advantage over conventionalindirect heat transfer processes. However, the small holes in the gasdelivery pipes that are used to distribute hot gases into the processfluid within the device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,482 are subject toblockages by deposits of solids formed from fouling fluids. Thus, theinlet pipe that delivers hot gases to the process fluid is subject tothe buildup of deposits of solids.

Further, as the result of the need to disperse large volumes of gasthroughout a continuous process liquid phase, the containment vesselwithin U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,482 generally requires significantcross-sectional area. The inner surfaces of such containment vessels andany appurtenances installed within them are collectively referred to asthe “wetted surfaces” of the process. These wetted surfaces mustwithstand varying concentrations of hot process fluids while the systemis in operation. For systems designed to treat a broad range ofwastewater streams, the materials of construction for the wettedsurfaces present critical design decisions in relation to both corrosionand temperature resistance which must be balanced against the cost ofequipment and the costs of maintenance/replacement over time. Generallyspeaking, durability and low maintenance/replacement costs for wettedsurfaces are enhanced by selecting either high grades of metal alloys orcertain engineered plastics such as those used in manufacturingfiberglass vessels. However, conventional concentration processes thatemploy either indirect or direct heating systems also require means forhot mediums such as steam, heat transfer oil or gases to transfer heatto the fluid within the vessel. While various different high alloysoffer answers in regard to corrosion and temperature resistance, thecosts of the vessels and the appurtenances fabricated from them aregenerally quite high. Further, while engineered plastics may be usedeither directly to form the containment vessel or as coatings on thewetted surfaces, temperature resistance is generally a limiting factorfor many engineered plastics. For example, the high surface temperaturesof the inlet pipe for hot gas within vessels used in U.S. Pat. No.5,342,482 imposes such limits. Thus, the vessels and other equipmentused for these processes are typically very expensive to manufacture andmaintain.

Moreover, in all of these systems, a source of heat is required toperform the concentration or evaporative processes. Numerous systemshave been developed to use heat generated by various sources, such asheat generated in an engine, in a combustion chamber, in a gascompression process, etc., as a source of heat for wastewaterprocessing. One example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.7,214,290 in which heat is generated by combusting landfill gas within asubmerged combustion gas evaporator, which is used to process leachateat a landfill site. U.S. Pat. No. 7,416,172 discloses a submerged gasevaporator in which waste heat may be provided to an input of the gasevaporator to be used in concentrating or evaporating liquids. Whilewaste heat is generally considered to be a cheap source of energy, to beused effectively in a wastewater processing operation, the waste heatmust in many cases be transported a significant distance from the sourceof the waste heat to a location at which the evaporative orconcentration process is to be performed. For example, in many cases, alandfill operation will have electricity generators which use one ormore internal combustion engines operating with landfill gas as acombustion fuel. The exhaust of these generators or engines, which istypically piped through a muffler and an exhaust stack to the atmosphereat the top of a building containing the electrical generators, is asource of waste heat. However, to collect and use this waste heat,significant amounts of expensive piping and ductwork must be coupled tothe exhaust stack to transfer the waste heat to location of theprocessing system, which will usually be at ground level away from thebuilding containing the generators. Importantly, the piping, ductingmaterials, and control devices (e.g., throttling and shutoff valves)that can withstand the high temperatures (e.g., 1800 degrees Fahrenheit)of the exhaust gases within the exhaust stack are very expensive andmust be insulated to retain the heat within the exhaust gases duringtransport. Acceptable insulating materials used for such purposes aregenerally prone to failure due to a variety of characteristics that addcomplexity to the design such as brittleness, tendencies to erode overtime, and sensitivity to thermal cycling. Insulation also increases theweight of the piping, ducting, and control devices, which adds costs tostructural support requirements.

SUMMARY

A compact liquid concentrating device disclosed herein may be easilyconnected to a source of waste heat, such as a landfill gas flare or acombustion engine exhaust stack, and use this waste heat to perform adirect heat transfer concentration process without the need of large andexpensive containment vessels and without a lot of expensive hightemperature resistant materials. The compact liquid concentratorincludes a gas inlet, a gas exit and a mixing or flow corridorconnecting the gas inlet and the gas exit, wherein the flow corridorincludes a narrowed portion that accelerates the gas through the flowcorridor. A liquid inlet located between the gas inlet and the narrowedportion of the flow corridor, injects liquid into the gas stream at apoint prior to the narrowed portion so that the gas-liquid mixture isthoroughly mixed within the flow corridor, causing a portion of theliquid to be evaporated or concentrated. A demister or fluid scrubberdownstream of the narrowed portion, and connected to the gas exit,removes entrained liquid droplets from the gas stream and re-circulatesthe removed liquid to the liquid inlet through a re-circulating circuit.Fresh liquid to be concentrated is also introduced into there-circulating circuit at a rate sufficient to offset the combined totalof liquid evaporated in the flow corridor and any concentrated liquidthat is withdrawn from the process.

The compact liquid concentrator described herein includes a number ofattributes that operate to cost-effectively concentrate wastewaterstreams having broad ranges of characteristics. The concentrator isresistant to corrosive effects over a broad range of feedcharacteristics, has reasonable manufacturing and operating costs, isable to operate continuously at high levels of concentration, andefficiently utilizes heat energy directly from a wide variety ofsources. Moreover, the concentrator is compact enough to be portable,and so may be easily transported to locations where wastewater isgenerated through uncontrolled events and can be installed in closeproximity to waste heat sources. Thus, the concentrator disclosed hereinis a cost-effective, reliable and durable device that operates tocontinuously concentrate a broad range of different types of wastewaterstreams, and that eliminates the use of conventional solid-surface heatexchangers found in conventional indirect heat transfer systems whichlead to clogging and deposit buildups.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a general schematic diagram of a compact liquid concentrator;

FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of the liquid concentrator of FIG. 1mounted on a pallet or skid for easy transportation on a truck;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a compact liquid concentrator whichimplements the concentration process of FIG. 1, connected to a source ofwaste heat produced by a landfill flare;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a heat transfer portion of the compactliquid concentrator of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of an evaporator/concentrator portionof the compact liquid concentrator of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of easy opening access doors on a portionof the compact liquid concentrator of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of one of the easy opening access doors ofFIG. 6 in the open position;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an easy opening latch mechanism used onthe access doors of FIGS. 6 and 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a control system which may be used inthe compact liquid concentrator of FIG. 3 to control the operation ofthe various component parts of the compact liquid concentrator;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of the compact liquid concentrator of FIG. 3attached to a combustion engine stack as a source of waste heat;

FIG. 11 is a general schematic diagram of a second embodiment of acompact liquid concentrator;

FIG. 12 is a top view of the compact liquid concentrator of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of a compact liquidconcentrator, the third embodiment being a distributed liquidconcentrator;

FIG. 14 is a side elevational cross-section of the liquid concentratingportion of the distributed liquid concentrator of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a top plan view of the liquid concentrating section of FIG.14; and

FIG. 16 is a close up side view of a quencher and venturi section of thedistributed liquid concentrator of FIG. 13.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 depicts a generalized schematic diagram of a liquid concentrator10 that includes a gas inlet 20, a gas exit 22 and a flow corridor 24connecting the gas inlet 20 to the gas exit 22. The flow corridor 24includes a narrowed portion 26 that accelerates the flow of gas throughthe flow corridor 24 creating turbulent flow within the flow corridor 24at or near this location. The narrowed portion 26 in this embodiment mayformed by a venturi device. A liquid inlet 30 injects a liquid to beconcentrated (via evaporation) into a liquid concentration chamber inthe flow corridor 24 at a point upstream of the narrowed portion 26, andthe injected liquid joins with the gas flow in the flow corridor 24. Theliquid inlet 30 may include one or more replaceable nozzles 31 forspraying the liquid into the flow corridor 24. The inlet 30, whether ornot equipped with a nozzle 31, may introduce the liquid in any directionfrom perpendicular to parallel to the gas flow as the gas moves throughthe flow corridor 24. A baffle 33 may also be located near the liquidinlet 30 such that liquid introduced from the liquid inlet 30 impingeson the baffle and disperses into the flow corridor in small droplets.

As the gas and liquid flow through the narrowed portion 26, the venturiprinciple creates an accelerated and turbulent flow that thoroughlymixes the gas and liquid in the flow corridor 24 at and after thelocation of the inlet 30. As a result of the turbulent mixing, a portionof the liquid rapidly vaporizes and becomes part of the gas stream. Asthe gas-liquid mixture moves through the narrowed portion 26, thedirection and/or velocity of the gas/liquid mixture may be changed by anadjustable flow restriction, such as a venturi plate 32, which isgenerally used to create a large pressure difference in the flowcorridor 24 upstream and downstream of the venturi plate 32. The venturiplate 32 may be adjustable to control the size and/or shape of thenarrowed portion 26 and may be manufactured from a corrosion resistantmaterial including a high alloy metal such as those manufactured underthe trade names of Hastelloy®, Inconel® and Monel®.

After leaving the narrowed portion 26, the gas-liquid mixture passesthrough a demister 34 (also referred to as a fluid scrubber) coupled tothe gas exit 22. The demister 34 removes entrained liquid droplets fromthe gas stream. The demister 34 includes a gas-flow passage. The removedliquid collects in a liquid collector or sump 36 in the gas-flowpassage, the sump 36 may also include a reservoir for holding theremoved liquid. A pump 40 fluidly coupled to the sump 40 and/orreservoir moves the liquid through a re-circulating circuit 42 back tothe liquid inlet 30 and/or flow corridor 24. In this manner, the liquidmay be reduced through evaporation to a desired concentration. Fresh ornew liquid to be concentrated is input to the re-circulating circuit 42through a liquid inlet 44. This new liquid may instead be injecteddirectly into the flow corridor 24 upstream of the venturi plate 32. Therate of fresh liquid input into the re-circulating circuit 42 may beequal to the rate of evaporation of the liquid as the gas-liquid mixtureflows through the flow corridor 24 plus the rate of liquid extractedthrough a concentrated fluid extraction port 46 located in or near thereservoir in the sump 40. The ratio of re-circulated liquid to freshliquid may generally be in the range of approximately 1:1 toapproximately 100:1, and is usually in the range of approximately 5:1 toapproximately 25:1. For example, if the re-circulating circuit 42circulates fluid at approximately 10 gal/min, fresh or new liquid may beintroduced at a rate of approximately 1 gal/min (i.e., a 10:1 ratio). Aportion of the liquid may be drawn off through the extraction port 46when the liquid in the re-circulating circuit 42 reaches a desiredconcentration.

After passing through the demister 34 the gas stream passes through aninduction fan 50 that draws the gas through the flow corridor 24 anddemister gas-flow corridor under negative pressure. Of course, theconcentrator 10 could operate under positive pressure produced by ablower (not shown) prior to the liquid inlet 30. Finally, the gas isvented to the atmosphere or directed for further processing through thegas exit 22.

The concentrator 10 may include a pre-treatment system 52 for treatingthe liquid to be concentrated, which may be a wastewater feed. Forexample, an air stripper may be used as a pre-treatment system 52 toremove substances that may produce foul odors or be regulated as airpollutants. In this case, the air stripper may be any conventional typeof air stripper or may be a further concentrator of the type describedherein, which may be used in series as the air stripper. Thepre-treatment system 52 may, if desired, heat the liquid to beconcentrated using any desired heating technique. Additionally, the gasand/or wastewater feed circulating through the concentrator 10 may bepre-heated in a pre-heater 54. Pre-heating may be used to enhance therate of evaporation and thus the rate of concentration of the liquid.The gas and/or wastewater feed may be pre-heated through combustion ofrenewable fuels such as wood chips, bio-gas, methane, or any other typeof renewable fuel or any combination of renewable fuels, fossil fuelsand waste heat. Furthermore, the gas and/or wastewater may be pre-heatedthrough the use of waste heat generated in a landfill flare or stack.Also, waste heat from an engine, such as an internal combustion engine,may be used to pre-heat the gas and/or wastewater feed. Additionally,the gas streams ejected from the gas exit 22 of the concentrator 10 maybe transferred into a flare or other post treatment device 56 whichtreats the gas before releasing the gas to the atmosphere.

The liquid concentrator 10 described herein may be used to concentrate awide variety of wastewater streams, such as waste water from industry,runoff water from natural disasters (floods, hurricanes), refinerycaustic, leachate such as landfill leachate, etc. The liquidconcentrator 10 is practical, energy efficient, reliable, andcost-effective. In order to increase the utility of this liquidconcentrator, the liquid concentrator 10 is readily adaptable to beingmounted on a trailer or a moveable skid to effectively deal withwastewater streams that arise as the result of accidents or naturaldisasters or to routinely treat wastewater that is generated atspatially separated or remote sites. The liquid concentrator 10described herein has all of these desirable characteristics and providessignificant advantages over conventional wastewater concentrators,especially when the goal is to manage a broad variety of wastewaterstreams.

Moreover, the concentrator 10 may be largely fabricated from highlycorrosion resistant, yet low cost materials such as fiberglass and/orother engineered plastics. This is due, in part, to the fact that thedisclosed concentrator is designed to operate under minimal differentialpressure. For example, a differential pressure generally in the range ofonly 10 to 30 inches water column is required. Also, because thegas-liquid contact zones of the concentration processes generate highturbulence within narrowed (compact) passages at or directly after theventuri section of the flow path, the overall design is very compact ascompared to conventional concentrators where the gas liquid contactoccurs in large process vessels. As a result, the amount of high alloymetals required for the concentrator 10 is quite minimal. Also, becausethese high alloy parts are small and can be readily replaced in a shortperiod of time with minimal labor, fabrication costs may be cut to aneven higher degree by designing some or all of these parts to be wearitems manufactured from lesser quality alloys that are to be replaced atperiodic intervals. If desired, these lesser quality alloys (e.g.,carbon steel) may be coated with corrosion and/or erosion resistantliners, such as engineered plastics including elastomeric polymers, toextend the useful life of such components. Likewise, the pump 40 may beprovided with corrosion and/or erosion resistant liners to extend thelife of the pump 40, thus further reducing maintenance and replacementcosts.

As will be understood, the liquid concentrator 10 provides directcontact of the liquid to be concentrated and the hot gas, effectinghighly turbulent heat exchange and mass transfer between hot gas and theliquid, e.g., wastewater, undergoing concentration. Moreover, theconcentrator 10 employs highly compact gas-liquid contact zones, makingit minimal in size as compared to known concentrators. The directcontact heat exchange feature promotes high energy efficiency andeliminates the need for solid surface heat exchangers as used inconventional, indirect heat transfer concentrators. Further, the compactgas-liquid contact zone eliminates the bulky process vessels used inboth conventional indirect and direct heat exchange concentrators. Thesefeatures allow the concentrator 10 to be manufactured usingcomparatively low cost fabrication techniques and with reduced weight ascompared to conventional concentrators. Both of these factors favorportability and cost-effectiveness. Thus, the liquid concentrator 10 ismore compact and lighter in weight than conventional concentrators,which make it ideal for use as a portable unit. Additionally, the liquidconcentrator 10 is less prone to fouling and blockages due to the directcontact heat exchange operation and the lack of solid heat exchangersurfaces. The liquid concentrator 10 can also process liquids withsignificant amounts of suspended solids because of the direct contactheat exchange. As a result, high levels of concentration of the processfluids may be achieved without need for frequent cleaning of theconcentrator 10.

More specifically, in liquid concentrators that employ indirect heattransfer, the heat exchangers are prone to fouling and are subject toaccelerated effects of corrosion at the normal operating temperatures ofthe hot heat transfer medium that is circulated within them (steam orother hot fluid). Each of these factors places significant limits on thedurability and/or costs of building conventional indirectly heatedconcentrators, and on how long they may be operated before it isnecessary to shutdown and clean or repair the heat exchangers. Byeliminating the bulky process vessels, the weight of the liquidconcentrators and both the initial costs and the replacement costs forhigh alloy components are greatly reduced. Moreover, due to thetemperature difference between the gas and liquid, the relatively smallvolume of liquid contained within the system, and the reduced relativehumidity of the gas prior to mixing with the liquid, the concentrator 10operates at close to the adiabatic saturation temperature for theparticular gas/liquid mixture, which is typically in the range of about150 degrees Fahrenheit to about 215 degrees Fahrenheit (i.e., thisconcentrator is a “low momentum” concentrator).

Moreover, the concentrator 10 is designed to operate under negativepressure, a feature that greatly enhances the ability to use a verybroad range of fuel or waste heat sources as an energy source to affectevaporation. In fact, due to the draft nature of these systems,pressurized or non-pressurized burners may be used to heat and supplythe gas used in the concentrator 10. Further, the simplicity andreliability of the concentrator 10 is enhanced by the minimal number ofmoving parts and wear parts that are required. In general, only twopumps and a single induced draft fan are required for the concentratorwhen it is configured to operate on waste heat such as stack gases fromengines (e.g., generators or vehicle engines), industrial processstacks, gas compressor systems, and flares, such as landfill gas flares.These features provide significant advantages that reflect favorably onthe versatility and the costs of buying, operating and maintaining theconcentrator 10.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the liquid concentrator 10 mounted ona movable frame 60, such as a pallet, a trailer or a skid. The movableframe is sized and shaped for easy loading on, or connection to, atransportation vehicle 62, such as a tractor-trailer truck Likewise,such a mounted concentrator may easily be loaded onto a train, a ship oran airplane (not shown) for rapid transportation to remote sites. Theliquid concentrator 10 may operate as a totally self-contained unit byhaving its own burner and fuel supply, or the liquid concentrator 10 mayoperate using an on-site burner and/or an on-site fuel or waste heatsource. Fuels for the concentrator 10 may include renewable fuelsources, such as waste products (paper, wood chips, etc.), and landfillgas. Moreover, the concentrator 10 may operate on any combination oftraditional fossil fuels such as coal or petroleum, renewable fuelsand/or waste heat.

A typical trailer-mounted concentrator 10 may be capable of treating asmuch as one-hundred thousand gallons or more per day of wastewater,while larger, stationary units, such as those installed at landfills,sewage treatment plants, or natural gas or oil fields, may be capable oftreating multiples of one-hundred thousand gallons of wastewater perday.

FIG. 3 illustrates one particular embodiment of a compact liquidconcentrator 110 which operates using the principles described abovewith respect to FIG. 1 and which is connected to a source of waste heatin the form of a landfill flare. Generally speaking, the compact liquidconcentrator 110 of FIG. 3 operates to concentrate wastewater, such aslandfill leachate, using exhaust or waste heat created within a landfillflare which burns landfill gas in a manner that meets the standards setby the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As is known, mostlandfills include a flare which is used to burn landfill gas toeliminate methane and other gases prior to release to the atmosphere.Typically, the gas exiting the flare is between 1000 and 1500 degreesFahrenheit and may reach 1800 degrees Fahrenheit.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the compact liquid concentrator 110 generallyincludes or is connected to a flare assembly 115, and includes a heattransfer assembly 117 (shown in more detail in FIG. 4), an airpre-treatment assembly 119, a concentrator assembly 120 (shown in moredetail in FIG. 5), a fluid scrubber 122, and an exhaust section 124.Importantly, the flare assembly 115 includes a flare 130, which burnslandfill gas therein according to any known principles, and a flare capassembly 132. The flare cap assembly 132 includes a moveable cap 134(e.g., a flare cap, an exhaust gas cap, etc.) which covers the top ofthe flare 130, or other type of stack (e.g., a combustion gas exhauststack), to seal off the top of the flare 130 when the flare cap 134 isin the closed position, or to divert a portion of the flare gas in apartially closed position, and which allows gas produced within theflare 130 to escape to the atmosphere through an open end that forms aprimary gas outlet 143, when the flare cap 134 is in an open orpartially open position. The flare cap assembly 132 also includes a capactuator 135, such as a motor (e.g., an electric motor, a hydraulicmotor, a pneumatic motor, etc., shown in FIG. 4) which moves the flarecap 134 between the fully open and the fully closed positions. As shownin FIG. 4, the flare cap actuator 135 may, for example, rotate or movethe flare cap 134 around a pivot point 136 to open and close the flarecap 134. The flare cap actuator 135 may utilize a chain drive or anyother type of drive mechanism connected to the flare cap 134 to move theflare cap 134 around the pivot point 136. The flare cap assembly 132 mayalso include a counter-weight 137 disposed on the opposite side of thepivot point 136 from the flare cap 134 to balance or offset a portion ofthe weight of the flare cap 134 when moving the flare cap 134 around thepivot point 136. The counter-weight 137 enables the actuator 135 to bereduced in size or power while still being capable of moving or rotatingthe flare cap 134 between an open position, in which the top of theflare 130 (or the primary combustion gas outlet 143) is open to theatmosphere, and a closed position, in which the flare cap 134 covers andessentially seals the top of the flare 130 (or the primary combustiongas outlet 143). The flare cap 134 itself may be made of hightemperature resistant material, such as stainless steel or carbon steel,and may be lined or insulated with refractory material includingaluminum oxide and/or zirconium oxide on the bottom portion thereofwhich comes into direct contact with the hot flare gases when the flarecap 134 is in the closed position.

If desired, the flare 130 may include an adapter section 138 includingthe primary combustion gas outlet 143 and a secondary combustion gasoutlet 141 upstream of the primary combustion gas outlet 143. When theflare cap 130 is in the closed position, combustion gas is divertedthrough the secondary combustion gas outlet 141. The adapter section 138may include a connector section 139 that connects the flare 130 (orexhaust stack) to the heat transfer section 117 using a 90 degree elbowor turn. Other connector arrangements are possible. For example, theflare 130 and heat transfer section 117 may be connected at virtuallyany angle between 0 degrees and 180 degrees. In this case, the flare capassembly 132 is mounted on the top of the adaptor section 138 proximatethe primary combustion gas outlet 143.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the heat transfer assembly 117 includesa transfer pipe 140, which connects to an inlet of the air pre-treatmentassembly 119 to the flare 130 and, more particularly, to the adaptorsection 138 of the flare 130. A support member 142, in the form of avertical bar or pole, supports the heat transfer pipe 140 between theflare 130 and the air pre-treatment assembly 119 at a predeterminedlevel or height above the ground. The heat transfer pipe 140 isconnected to the connector section 139 or the adapter section 138 at thesecondary combustion gas outlet 141, the transfer pipe forming a portionof a fluid passageway between the adapter section 138 and a secondaryprocess, such as a fluid concentrating process. The support member 142is typically necessary because the heat transfer pipe 140 will generallybe made of metal, such as carbon or stainless steel, and may berefractory lined with materials such as aluminum oxide and/or zirconiumoxide, to withstand the temperature of the gas being transferred fromthe flare 130 to the air pre-treatment assembly 119. Thus, the heattransfer pipe 140 will typically be a heavy piece of equipment. However,because the flare 130, on the one hand, and the air pre-treatmentassembly 119 and the concentrator assembly 120, on the other hand, aredisposed immediately adjacent to one another, the heat transfer pipe 140generally only needs to be of a relatively short length, therebyreducing the cost of the materials used in the concentrator 110, as wellas reducing the amount of support structure needed to bear the weight ofthe heavy parts of the concentrator 110 above the ground. As illustratedin FIG. 3, the heat transfer pipe 140 and the air pre-treatment assembly1119 form an upside-down U-shaped structure.

The air pre-treatment assembly 119 includes a vertical piping section150 and an ambient air valve (not shown explicitly in FIGS. 3 and 4)disposed at the top of the vertical piping section 150. The ambient airvalve (also referred to as a bleed valve) forms a fluid passagewaybetween the heat transfer pipe 140 (or air pre-treatment assembly 119)and the atmosphere. The ambient air valve operates to allow ambient airto flow through a mesh bird screen 152 (typically wire or metal) andinto the interior of the air pre-treatment assembly 119 to mix with thehot gas coming from the flare 130. If desired, the air pre-treatmentassembly 119 may include a permanently open section proximate to thebleed valve which always allows some amount of bleed air into the airpre-treatment assembly 119, which may be desirable to reduce the size ofthe required bleed valve and for safety reasons. While the control ofthe ambient air or bleed valve will be discussed in greater detailhereinafter, this valve generally allows the gas from the flare 130 tobe cooled to a more useable temperature before entering into theconcentrator assembly 120. The air pre-treatment assembly 119 may besupported in part by cross-members 154 connected to the support member142. The cross-members 154 stabilize the air pre-treatment assembly 119,which is also typically made of heavy carbon or stainless steel or othermetal, and which may be refractory-lined to improve energy efficiencyand to withstand the high temperature of the gases within this sectionof the concentrator 110. If desired, the vertical piping section 150 maybe extendable to adapt to or account for flares of differing heights soas to make the liquid concentrator 110 easily adaptable to manydifferent flares or to flares of different heights. This concept isillustrated in more detail in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the verticalpiping section 150 may include a first section 150A (shown using dottedlines) that rides inside of a second section 150B thereby allowing thevertical piping section 150 to be adjustable in length (height).

Generally speaking, the air pre-treatment assembly 119 operates to mixambient air provided through the ambient air valve beneath the screen152 and the hot gas flowing from the flare 130 through the heat transferpipe 140 to create a desired temperature of gas at the inlet of theconcentrator assembly 120.

The liquid concentrator assembly 120 includes a lead-in section 156having a reduced cross-section at the top end thereof which mates thebottom of the piping section 150 to a quencher 159 of the concentratorassembly 120. The concentrator assembly 120 also includes a first fluidinlet 160, which injects new or untreated liquid to be concentrated,such as landfill leachate, into the interior of the quencher 159. Whilenot shown in FIG. 3, the inlet 160 may include a coarse sprayer with alarge nozzle for spraying the untreated liquid into the quencher 159.Because the liquid being sprayed into the quencher 159 at this point inthe system is not yet concentrated, and thus has large amount of watertherein, and because the sprayer is a coarse sprayer, the sprayer nozzleis not subject to fouling or being clogged by the small particles withinthe liquid. As will be understood, the quencher 159 operates to quicklyreduce the temperature of the gas stream (e.g., from about 900 degreesFahrenheit to less than 200 degrees Fahrenheit) while performing a highdegree of evaporation on the liquid injected at the inlet 160. Ifdesired, but not specifically shown in FIG. 3, a temperature sensor maybe located at or near the exit of the piping section 150 or in thequencher 159 and may be used to control the position of the ambient airvalve to thereby control the temperature of the gas present at the inletof the concentrator assembly 120.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the quencher 159 is connected to liquidinjection chamber which is connected to narrowed portion or venturisection 162 which has a narrowed cross section with respect to thequencher 159 and which has a venturi plate 163 (shown in dotted line)disposed therein. The venturi plate 163 creates a narrow passage throughthe venturi section 162, which creates a large pressure drop between theentrance and the exit of the venturi section 162. This large pressuredrop causes turbulent gas flow within the quencher 159 and the top orentrance of the venturi section 162, and causes a high rate of gas flowout of the venturi section 162, both of which lead to thorough mixing ofthe gas and liquid in the venturi section 162. The position of theventuri plate 163 may be controlled with a manual control rod 165 (shownin FIG. 5) connected to the pivot point of the plate 163, or via anelectric control mechanism, such as motor (not shown in FIG. 5).

A re-circulating pipe 166 extends around opposite sides of the entranceof the venturi section 162 and operates to inject partially concentrated(i.e., re-circulated) liquid into the venturi section 162 to be furtherconcentrated and/or to prevent the formation of dry particulate withinthe concentrator assembly 120 through multiple fluid entrances locatedon one or more sides of the flow corridor. While not explicitly shown inFIGS. 3 and 5, a number of pipes, such as three pipes of, for example, ½inch diameter, may extend from each of the opposites legs of the pipe166 partially surrounding the venturi section 162, and through the wallsand into the interior of the venturi section 162. Because the liquidbeing ejected into the concentrator 110 at this point is re-circulatedliquid, and is thus either partially concentrated or being maintained ata particular equilibrium concentration and more prone to plug a spraynozzle than the less concentrated liquid injected at the inlet 160, thisliquid may be directly injected without a sprayer so as to preventclogging. However, if desired, a baffle in the form of a flat plate maybe disposed in front of each of the openings of the ½ pipes to cause theliquid being injected at this point in the system to hit the baffle anddisperse into the concentrator assembly 120 as smaller droplets. In anyevent, the configuration of this re-circulating system distributes ordisperses the re-circulating liquid better within the gas stream flowingthrough the concentrator assembly 120.

The combined hot gas and liquid flows in a turbulent manner through theventuri section 162. As noted above, the venturi section 162, which hasa moveable venturi plate 163 disposed across the width of theconcentrator assembly 120, causes turbulent flow and complete mixture ofthe liquid and gas, causing rapid evaporation of the liquid within thegas. Because the mixing action caused by the venturi section 162provides a high degree of evaporation, the gas cools substantially inthe concentrator assembly 120, and exits the venturi section 162 into aflooded elbow 164 at high rates of speed. In fact, the temperature ofthe gas-liquid mixture at this point may be about 160 degreesFahrenheit.

As is typical, the bottom of the flooded elbow 164 has liquid disposedtherein, and the gas-liquid mixture exiting the venturi section 162 athigh rates of speed impinges on the liquid in the bottom of the floodedelbow 164 as the gas-liquid mixture is forced to turn 90 degrees to flowinto the fluid scrubber 122. The interaction of the gas-liquid streamwith the liquid within the flooded elbow 164 removes liquid dropletsfrom the gas-liquid stream, and prevents suspended particles within thegas-liquid stream from hitting the bottom of flooded elbow 164 at highrates of speeds, thereby preventing erosion of the metal wall of theflooded elbow 164.

After leaving the flooded elbow 164, the gas-liquid stream in whichevaporated liquid and some liquid and other particles still exist, flowsthrough the fluid scrubber 122 which is, in this case, a cross-flowfluid scrubber. The fluid scrubber 122 includes various screens orfilters which aid in removal of entrained liquids from the gas-liquidstream and removes other particles that might be present with thegas-liquid stream. In one particular example, the cross flow scrubber122 may include an initial coarse impingement baffle 169 at the inputthereof, which is designed to remove liquid droplets in the range of 50to 100 microns in size or higher. Thereafter, two removable filters inthe form of chevrons 170 are disposed across the fluid path through thefluid scrubber 122, and the chevrons 170 may be progressively sized orconfigured to remove liquid droplets of smaller and smaller sizes, suchas 20-30 microns and less than 10 microns. Of course, more or fewerfilters or chevrons could be used.

As is typical in cross flow scrubbers, liquid captured by the filters169 and 170 gravity drains into a reservoir or sump 172 located at thebottom of the fluid scrubber 122. The sump 172, which may hold, forexample 200 gallons of liquid or more, thereby collects concentratedfluid containing dissolved and suspended solids removed from thegas-liquid stream and operates as a reservoir for a source ofre-circulating concentrated liquid back to the concentrator assembly 120to be further treated and/or to prevent the formation of dry particulatewithin the concentrator assembly 120 in the manner described above withrespect to FIG. 1. In one embodiment, the sump 172 may include a slopedV-shaped bottom (not shown in the drawings) having a V-shaped grooveextending from the back of the fluid scrubber 122 (furthest away fromthe flooded elbow 164) to the front of the fluid scrubber 122 (closestto the flooded elbow 164), wherein the V-shaped groove is sloped suchthat the bottom of the V-shaped groove is lower at the end of the fluidscrubber 122 nearest the flooded elbow 164 than at an end farther awayfrom the flooded elbow 164. In other words, the V-shaped bottom may besloped with the lowest point of the V-shaped bottom proximate the exitport 173 and/or the pump 182. Additionally, a washing circuit (not shownin the drawings) may pump concentrated fluid from the sump 172 to asprayer (not shown) within the cross flow scrubber 122, the sprayerbeing aimed to spray liquid at the V-shaped bottom. Alternatively, thesprayer may spray unconcentrated liquid or clean water at the V-shapedbottom. The sprayer may periodically or constantly spray liquid onto thesurface of the V-shaped bottom to wash solids and prevent solids buildupon the V-shaped bottom or at the exit port 173 and/or the pump 182. As aresult of this V-shaped sloped bottom and pump, liquid collecting in thesump 172 is continuously agitated and renewed, thereby maintaining arelatively constant consistency and maintaining solids in suspension. Ifdesired, the spraying circuit may be a separate circuit using a separatepump with, for example, an inlet inside of the sump 173, or may use apump 182 associated with a concentrated liquid re-circulating circuitdescribed below to spray concentrated fluid from the sump onto theV-shaped bottom of the sump 172.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, a return line 180, as well as a pump 182,operate to re-circulate fluid removed from the gas-liquid stream fromthe sump 172 back to the concentrator 120 and thereby complete a fluidor liquid re-circulating circuit. Likewise, a pump 184 may be providedwithin an input line 186 to pump new or untreated liquid, such aslandfill leachate, to the input 160 of the concentrator assembly 120.Also, one or more sprayers 185 may be disposed inside the fluid scrubber122 adjacent the chevrons 170 and may be operated periodically to sprayclean water or a portion of the wastewater feed on the chevrons 170 tokeep them clean.

Concentrated liquid also be removed from the bottom of the fluidscrubber 122 via the exit port 173 and may be further processed ordisposed of in any suitable manner in a secondary re-circulatingcircuit. In particular, the concentrated liquid removed by the exit port173 contains a certain amount of suspended solids, which preferably maybe separated from the liquid portion of the concentrated liquid andremoved from the system using a secondary re-circulating circuit. Forexample, concentrated liquid removed from the exit port 173 may betransported through a secondary concentrated wastewater circuit (notshown) to a solid/liquid separating device, such as a settling tank, avibrating screen, a rotary vacuum filter, or a filter press. After thesuspended solids and liquid portion of the concentrated wastewater areseparated by the solid/liquid separating device, the liquid portion ofthe concentrated wastewater may be returned to the sump 172 for furtherprocessing in the first or primary re-circulating circuit connected tothe concentrator.

The gas, which flows through and out of the fluid scrubber 122 with theliquid and suspended solids removed therefrom, exits out of piping orductwork at the back of the fluid scrubber 122 (downstream of thechevrons 170) and flows through an induced draft fan 190 of the exhaustassembly 124, from where it is exhausted to the atmosphere in the formof the cooled hot inlet gas mixed with the evaporated water vapor. Ofcourse, an induced draft fan motor 192 is connected to and operates thefan 190 to create negative pressure within the fluid scrubber 122 so asto ultimately draw gas from the flare 130 through the transfer pipe 140,the air pre-treatment assembly 119 and the concentrator assembly 120. Asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 1, the induced draft fan 190 needsonly to provide a slight negative pressure within the fluid scrubber 122to assure proper operation of the concentrator 110.

While the speed of the induced draft fan 190 can be varied by a devicesuch as a variable frequency drive operated to create varying levels ofnegative pressure within the fluid scrubber 122 and thus can usually beoperated within a range of gas flow capacity to assure complete gas flowfrom the flare 130, if the gas being produced by the flare 130 is not ofsufficient quantity, the operation of the induced draft fan 190 cannotnecessarily be adjusted to assure a proper pressure drop across thefluid scrubber 122 itself. That is, to operate efficiently and properly,the gas flowing through the fluid scrubber 122 must be at a sufficient(minimal) flow rate at the input of the fluid scrubber 122. Typicallythis requirement is controlled by keeping at least a preset minimalpressure drop across the fluid scrubber 122. However, if the flare 130is not producing at least a minimal level of gas, increasing the speedof the induced draft fan 190 will not be able to create the requiredpressure drop across the fluid scrubber 122.

To compensate for this situation, the cross flow scrubber 122 isdesigned to include a gas re-circulating circuit which can be used toassure that enough gas is present at the input of the fluid scrubber 122to enable the system to acquire the needed pressure drop across thefluid scrubber 122. In particular, the gas re-circulating circuitincludes a gas return line or return duct 196 which connects the highpressure side of the exhaust assembly 124 (e.g., downstream of theinduced draft fan 190) to the input of the fluid scrubber 122 (e.g., agas input of the fluid scrubber 122) and a baffle or control mechanism198 disposed in the return duct 196 which operates to open and close thereturn duct 196 to thereby fluidly connect the high pressure side of theexhaust assembly 124 to the input of the fluid scrubber 122. Duringoperation, when the gas entering into the fluid scrubber 122 is not ofsufficient quantity to obtain the minimal required pressure drop acrossthe fluid scrubber 122, the baffle 198 (which may be, for example, a gasvalve, a damper such as a louvered damper, etc.) is opened to direct gasfrom the high pressure side of the exhaust assembly 124 (i.e., gas thathas traveled through the induced draft fan 190) back to the input of thefluid scrubber 122. This operation thereby provides a sufficientquantity of gas at the input of the fluid scrubber 122 to enable theoperation of the induced draft fan 190 to acquire the minimal requiredpressure drop across the fluid scrubber 122.

FIG. 6 illustrates the particular advantageous feature of the compactliquid concentrator 110 of FIG. 3 in the form of a set of easy openingaccess doors 200 which may be used to access the inside of theconcentrator 110 for cleaning and viewing purposes. While FIG. 6illustrates easy opening access doors 200 on one side of the fluidscrubber 122, a similar set of doors may be provided on the other sideof the fluid scrubber 122, and a similar door is provided on the frontof the flooded elbow 164, as shown in FIG. 5. As illustrated in FIG. 6,each of the easy access doors 200 on the fluid scrubber 122 includes adoor plate 202, which may be a flat piece of metal, connected to thefluid scrubber 122 via two hinges 204, with the door plate 202 beingpivotable on the hinges 204 to open and close. A plurality ofquick-release handles 206 are disposed around the periphery of the doorplate 202 and operate to hold the door plate 202 in the closed positionand so to hold the door 200 shut when the fluid scrubber 122 isoperating. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, eight quick-releasehandles 206 are disposed around each of the door plates 202, althoughany other desired number of such quick-release handles 206 could be usedinstead.

FIG. 7 illustrates one of the doors 200 disposed in the open position.As will be seen, a door seat 208 is mounted away from the wall of thefluid scrubber 122 with extension members 209 disposed between the doorseat 208 and the outer wall of the fluid scrubber 122. A gasket 210,which may be made of rubber or other compressible material, is disposedaround the circumference of the opening on the door seat 208. A similargasket may additionally or alternatively be disposed around the outercircumference of inner side of the door plate 202, which provides forbetter sealing when the door 200 is in the closed position.

Each quick-release handle 206, one of which is shown in more detail inFIG. 8, includes a handle 212 and a latch 214 (in this case a U-shapedpiece of metal) mounted on a pivot bar 216 disposed through the handle212. The handle 212 is mounted on a further pivot point member 218 whichis mounted on the outer wall of the door plate 202 via an attachmentbracket 219. The operation of the handle 212 up and around the furtherpivot member 218 (from the position shown in FIG. 8) moves the latch 214towards the outer wall of the fluid scrubber 112 (when the door plate202 is in the closed position) so that the latch 214 may be disposed onthe side of a hook 220 away from the door plate 202, the hook 220 beingmounted on the extension member 209. Rotation of the handle 210 back inthe opposite direction pulls the latch 214 up tight against the hook220, pulling the further pivot member 218 and therefore the door plate202 against the door seat 208. Operation of all of the quick-releasehandles 206 secures the door plate 202 against door seat 208 and thegasket 210 provides for a fluidly secure connection. Thus, closing alleight of the quick-release handles 206 on a particular door 200, asillustrated in FIG. 6, provides a secure and tight-fitting mechanism forholding the door 200 closed.

The use of the easy opening doors 200 replaces the use of a plate withholes, wherein numerous bolts extending from the outer wall of theconcentrator are fitted through the holes on the plate and wherein it isnecessary to tighten nuts on the bolts to draw the plate against thewall of the concentrator. While such a nut and bolt type of securingmechanism, which is typically used in fluid concentrators to allowaccess to the interior of the concentrator, is very secure, operation ofthis configuration takes a long time and a lot of effort when opening orclosing an access panel. The use of the quick opening doors 200 with thequick-release handles 206 of FIG. 6 may be used in this instance becausethe interior of the fluid scrubber 122 is under negative pressure, inwhich the pressure inside the fluid scrubber 122 is less than theambient air pressure, and so does not need the security of a cumbersomebolt and nut type of access panel. Of course, as will be understood, theconfiguration of the doors 200 allows the doors 200 to be easily openedand closed, with only minimal manual effort, and no tools, therebyallowing for fast and easy access to the structure inside of the fluidscrubber 122, such as the impingement baffle 169 or the removablefilters 170, or other parts of the concentrator 110 on which an accessdoor 200 is disposed.

Referring back to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the front the floodedelbow 164 of the concentrator assembly 120 also includes an easy-openingaccess door 200, which allows easy access to the inside of the floodedelbow 164. However, similar easy opening access doors could be locatedon any desired part of the fluid concentrator 110, as most of theelements of the concentrator 10 operate under negative pressure.

The combination of features illustrated in FIGS. 3-8 makes for a compactfluid concentrator 110 that uses waste heat in the form of gas resultingfrom the operation of a landfill flare burning landfill gas, which wasteheat would otherwise be vented directly to the atmosphere. Importantly,the concentrator 110 uses only a minimal amount of high temperatureresistant (and thus expensive material) to provide the piping andstructural equipment required to use the high temperature gases exitingfrom the flare 130. In particular, the small length of the transfer pipe140, which is made of the most expensive materials, is minimized,thereby reducing the cost and weight of the fluid concentrator 110.Moreover, because of the small size of the heat transfer pipe 140, onlya minimal amount of scaffolding, in the form of the support member 142,is needed thereby further reducing the costs of building theconcentrator 110. Still further, the fact that the air pre-treatmentassembly 119 is disposed directly on top of the fluid concentratorassembly 120, with the gas in these sections flowing downward towardsthe ground, enables these sections of the concentrator 110 to besupported directly by the ground or by a skid on which these members aremounted. Still further, this configuration keeps the concentrator 110disposed very close to the flare 130, making it more compact Likewise,this configuration keeps the high temperature sections of theconcentrator 110 (e.g., the top of the flare 130, the heat transfer pipe140 and the air pre-treatment assembly 119) above the ground and awayfrom inadvertent human contact, leading to a safer configuration. Infact, due to the rapid cooling that takes place in the venturi section162 of the concentrator assembly 120, the venturi section 162, theflooded elbow 164 and the fluid scrubber 122 are typically cool enoughto touch without harm (even when the gases exiting the flare 130 are at1800 degrees Fahrenheit). This fact also enables these components to bemade of less expensive or lighter weight materials, such as carbon steelor fiberglass. In fact, in one embodiment, the fluid scrubber 122 ismade of fiberglass, making it less expensive than higher alloys whilemaintaining exceptional corrosion resistance.

The fluid concentrator 110 is also a very fast-acting concentrator.Because the concentrator 110 is a direct contact type of concentrator,it is not subject to deposit buildup, clogging and fouling to the sameextent as most other concentrators. Still further, the ability tocontrol the flare cap 134 to open and close, depending on whether theconcentrator 110 is being used or operated, allows the flare 130 to beused to burn landfill gas without interruption when starting andstopping the concentrator 110. More particularly, the flare cap 134 canbe quickly opened at any time to allow the flare 130 to simply burnlandfill gas as normal while the concentrator 110 is shut down. On theother hand, the flare cap 134 can be quickly closed when theconcentrator 110 is started up, thereby diverting hot gasses created inthe flare 130 to the concentrator 110, and allowing the concentrator 110to operate without interrupting the operation of the flare 130. Ineither case, the concentrator 110 can be started and stopped based onthe operation of the flare cap 134 without interrupting the operation ofthe flare 130.

If desired, the flare cap 134 may be opened to a partial amount duringoperation of the concentrator 110 to control the amount of gas that istransferred from the flare 130 to the concentrator 110. This operation,in conjunction with the operation of the ambient air valve, may beuseful in controlling the temperature of the gas at the entrance of theventuri section 162.

Moreover, due to the compact configuration of the air pre-treatmentassembly 119, the concentrator assembly 120 and the fluid scrubber 122,parts of the concentrator assembly 120, the fluid scrubber 122, thedraft fan 190 and at least a lower portion of the exhaust section 124can be permanently mounted on (connected to and supported by) a skid orplate 230, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The upper parts of the concentratorassembly 120, the air pre-treatment assembly 119 and the heat transferpipe 140, as well as a top portion of the exhaust stack, may be removedand stored on the skid or plate 230 for transport, or may be transportedin a separate truck. Because of the manner in which the lower portionsof the concentrator 110 can be mounted to a skid or plate, theconcentrator 110 is easy to move and install. In particular, during setup of the concentrator 110, the skid 230, with the fluid scrubber 122,the flooded elbow 164 and the draft fan 190 mounted thereon, may beoffloaded at the site at which the concentrator 110 is to be used bysimply offloading the skid 230 onto the ground or other containment areaat which the concentrator 110 is to be assembled. Thereafter, theventuri section 162, the quencher 159, and the air pre-treatmentassembly 119 may be placed on top of and attached to the flooded elbow164. The piping section 150 may then be extended in height to match theheight of the flare 130 to which the concentrator 110 is to beconnected. In some cases, this may first require mounting the flare capassembly 132 onto a pre-existing flare 130. Thereafter, the heattransfer pipe 140 may be raised to the proper height and attachedbetween the flare 130 and the air pre-treatment assembly 119, while thesupport member 142 is disposed in place.

Because most of the pumps, fluid lines, sensors and electronic equipmentare disposed on or are connected to the fluid concentrator assembly 120,the fluid scrubber 122 or the draft fan assembly 190, set up of theconcentrator 110 at a particular site does not require a lot of fluidpiping and electrical work at the site. As a result, the concentrator110 is relatively easy to install and to set up at (and to disassembleand remove from) a particular site. Moreover, because a majority of thecomponents of the concentrator 110 are permanently mounted to the skid230, the concentrator 110 can be easily transported around on a truck orother delivery vehicle and can be easily dropped off and installed atparticular location, such as next to a landfill flare.

FIG. 9 illustrates a schematic diagram of a control system 300 that maybe used to operate the concentrator 110 of FIG. 3. As illustrated inFIG. 9, the control system 300 includes a controller 302, which may be aform of digital signal processor type of controller, a programmablelogic controller (PLC) which may run, for example, ladder logic basedcontrol, or any other type of controller. The controller 302 is, ofcourse, connected to various components within the concentrator 110. Inparticular, the controller 302 is connected to the flare cap drive motor135, which controls the opening and closing operation of the flare cap134. The motor 135 may be set up to control the flare cap 134 to movebetween a fully open and a fully closed position. However, if desired,the controller 302 may control the drive motor 135 to open the flare cap134 to any of a set of various different controllable positions betweenthe fully opened and the fully closed position. The motor 135 may becontinuously variable if desired, so that the flare cap 134 may bepositioned at any desired point between fully open and fully closed.

Additionally, the controller 302 is connected to and controls theambient air inlet valve 306 disposed in the air pre-treatment assembly119 of FIG. 3 upstream of the venturi section 162 and may be used tocontrol the pumps 182 and 184 which control the amount of and the ratioof the injection of new liquid to be treated and the re-circulatingliquid being treated within the concentrator 110. The controller 302 maybe operatively connected to a sump level sensor 317 (e.g., a floatsensor, a non-contact sensor such as a radar unit, or a differentialpressure cell). The controller 302 may use a signal from the sump levelsensor 317 to control the pumps 182 and 184 to maintain the level ofconcentrated fluid within the sump 172 at a predetermined or desiredlevel. Also, the controller 302 may be connected to the induced draftfan 190 to control the operation of the fan 190, which may be a singlespeed fan, a variable speed fan or a continuously controllable speedfan. In one embodiment, the induced draft fan 190 is driven by avariable frequency motor, so that the frequency of the motor is changedto control the speed of the fan. Moreover, the controller 302 isconnected to a temperature sensor 308 disposed at, for example, theinlet of the concentrator assembly 120 or at the inlet of the venturisection 162, and receives a temperature signal generated by thetemperature sensor 308. The temperature sensor 308 may alternatively belocated downstream of the venturi section 162 or the temperature sensor308 may include a pressure sensor for generating a pressure signal.

During operation and at, for example, the initiation of the concentrator110, when the flare 130 is actually running and is thus burning landfillgas, the controller 302 may first turn on the induced draft fan 190 tocreate a negative pressure within the fluid scrubber 122 and theconcentrator assembly 120. The controller 302 may then or at the sametime, send a signal to the motor 135 to close the flare cap 134 eitherpartially or completely, to direct waste heat from the flare 130 intothe transfer pipe 140 and thus to the air pre-treatment assembly 119.Based on the temperature signal from the temperature sensor 308, thecontroller 302 may control the ambient air valve 306 (typically byclosing this valve partially or completely) and/or the flare capactuator to control the temperature of the gas at the inlet of theconcentrator assembly 120. Generally speaking, the ambient air valve 306may be biased in a fully open position (i.e., may be normally open) by abiasing element such as a spring, and the controller 302 may begin toclose the valve 306 to control the amount of ambient air that isdiverted into the air pre-treatment assembly 119 (due to the negativepressure in the air pre-treatment assembly 119), so as to cause themixture of the ambient air and the hot gases from the flare 130 to reacha desired temperature. Additionally, if desired, the controller 302 maycontrol the position of the flare cap 134 (anywhere from fully open tofully closed) and may control the speed of the induced draft fan 190, tocontrol the amount of gas that enters the air pre-treatment assembly 119from the flare 130. As will be understood, the amount of gas flowingthrough the concentrator 110 may need to vary depending on ambient airtemperature and humidity, the temperature of the flare gas, the amountof gas exiting the flare 130, etc. The controller 302 may thereforecontrol the temperature and the amount of gas flowing through theconcentrator assembly 120 by controlling one or any combination of theambient air control valve 306, the position of the flare cap 134 and thespeed of the induced draft fan 190 based on, for example, themeasurement of the temperature sensor 308 at the inlet of theconcentrator assembly 120. This feedback system is desirable because, inmany cases, the air coming out of a flare 130 is between 1200 and 1800degrees Fahrenheit, which may be too hot, or hotter than required forthe concentrator 110 to operate efficiently and effectively.

In any event, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the controller 302 may also beconnected to a motor 310 which drives or controls the position of theventuri plate 163 within the narrowed portion of the concentratorassembly 120 to control the amount of turbulence caused within theconcentrator assembly 120. Still further, the controller 302 may controlthe operation of the pumps 182 and 184 to control the rate at which (andthe ratio at which) the pumps 182 and 184 provide re-circulating liquidand new waste fluid to be treated to the inputs of the quencher 159 andthe venturi section 162. In one embodiment, the controller 302 maycontrol the ratio of the re-circulating fluid to new fluid to be about10:1, so that if the pump 184 is providing 8 gallons per minute of newliquid to the input 160, the re-circulating pump 182 is pumping 80gallons per minute. Additionally, or alternatively, the controller 302may control the flow of new liquid to be processed into the concentrator(via the pump 184) by maintaining a constant or predetermined level ofconcentrated liquid in the sump 172 using, for example, the level sensor317. Of course, the amount of liquid in the sump 172 will be dependenton the rate of concentration in the concentrator, the rate at whichconcentrated liquid is pumped from or otherwise exists the sump 172 viathe secondary re-circulating circuit and the rate at which liquid fromthe secondary re-circulating circuit is provided back to the sump 172,as well as the rate at which the pump 182 pumps liquid from the sump 172for delivery to the concentrator via the primary re-circulating circuit.

If desired, one or both of the ambient air valve 306 and the flare cap134 may be operated in a fail-safe open position, such that the flarecap 134 and the ambient air valve 306 open in the case of a failure ofthe system (e.g., a loss of control signal) or a shutdown of theconcentrator 110. In one case, the flare cap motor 135 may be springloaded or biased with a biasing element, such as a spring, to open theflare cap 134 or to allow the flare cap 134 to open upon loss of powerto the motor 135. Alternatively, the biasing element may be thecounter-weight 137 on the flare cap 134 may be so positioned that theflare cap 134 itself swings to the open position under the applied forceof the counter-weight 137 when the motor 135 loses power or loses acontrol signal. This operation causes the flare cap 134 to open quickly,either when power is lost or when the controller 302 opens the flare cap134, to thereby allow hot gas within the flare 130 to exit out of thetop of the flare 130. Of course, other manners of causing the flare cap134 to open upon loss of control signal can be used, including the useof a torsion spring on the pivot point 136 of the flare cap 134, ahydraulic or pressurized air system that pressurizes a cylinder to closethe flare cap 134, loss of which pressure causes the flare cap 134 toopen upon loss of the control signal, etc.

Thus, as will be noted from the above discussion, the combination of theflare cap 134 and the ambient air valve 306 work in unison to protectthe engineered material incorporated into the concentrator 110, aswhenever the system is shut down, the flare cap and the air valve 306automatically immediately open, thereby isolating hot gas generated inthe flare 130 from the process while quickly admitting ambient air tocool the process.

Moreover, in the same manner, the ambient air valve 306 may be springbiased or otherwise configured to open upon shut down of theconcentrator 110 or loss of signal to the valve 306. This operationcauses quick cooling of the air pre-treatment assembly 119 and theconcentrator assembly 120 when the flare cap 134 opens. Moreover,because of the quick opening nature of the ambient air valve 306 and theflare cap 134, the controller 302 can quickly shut down the concentrator110 without having to turn off or effect the operation of the flare 130.

Furthermore, as illustrated in the FIG. 9, the controller 302 may beconnected to the venturi plate motor 310 or other actuator which movesor actuates the angle at which the venturi plate 163 is disposed withinthe venturi section 162. Using the motor 310, the controller 302 maychange the angle of the venturi plate 163 to alter the gas flow throughthe concentrator assembly 120, thereby changing the nature of theturbulent flow of the gas through concentrator assembly 120, which mayprovide for better mixing of the and liquid and gas therein and obtainbetter or more complete evaporation of the liquid. In this case, thecontroller 302 may operate the speed of the pumps 182 and 184 inconjunction with the operation of the venturi plate 163 to provide foroptimal concentration of the wastewater being treated. Thus, as will beunderstood, the controller 302 may coordinate the position of theventuri plate 163 with the operation of the flare cap 134, the positionof the ambient air or bleed valve 306, and the speed of the inductionfan 190 to maximize wastewater concentration (turbulent mixing) withoutfully drying the wastewater so as to prevent formation of dryparticulates. The controller 302 may use pressure inputs from thepressure sensors to position the venturi plate 163. Of course, theventuri plate 163 may be manually controlled or automaticallycontrolled.

The controller 302 may also be connected to a motor 312 which controlsthe operation of the damper 198 in the gas re-circulating circuit of thefluid scrubber 122. The controller 302 may cause the motor 312 or othertype of actuator to move the damper 198 from a closed position to anopen or to a partially open position based on, for example, signals frompressure sensors 313, 315 disposed at the gas entrance and the gas exitof the fluid scrubber 122. The controller 302 may control the damper 198to force gas from the high pressure side of the exhaust section 124(downstream of the induced draft fan 190) into the fluid scrubberentrance to maintain a predetermined minimum pressure difference betweenthe two pressure sensors 313. 315. Maintaining this minimum pressuredifference assures proper operation of the fluid scrubber 122. Ofcourse, the damper 198 may be manually controlled instead or in additionto being electrically controlled.

Thus, as will be understood from the above discussion, the controller302 may implement one or more on/off control loops used to start up orshut down the concentrator 110 without affecting the operation of theflare 130. For example, the controller 302 may implement a flare capcontrol loop which opens or closes the flare cap 134, a bleed valvecontrol loop which opens or begins to close the ambient air valve 306,and an induced draft fan control loop which starts or stops the induceddraft fan 190 based on whether the concentrator 110 is being started orstopped. Moreover, during operation, the controller 302 may implementone or more on-line control loops which may control various elements ofthe concentrator 110 individually or in conjunction with one another toprovide for better or optimal concentration. When implementing theseon-line control loops, the controller 302 may control the speed ofinduced draft fan 190, the position or angle of the venturi plate 163,the position of the flare cap 134 and or the position of the ambient airvalve 306 to control the fluid flow through the concentrator 110, and/orthe temperature of the air at the inlet of the concentrator assembly 120based on signals from the temperature and pressure sensors. Moreover,the controller 302 may maintain the performance of the concentrationprocess at steady-state conditions by controlling the pumps 184 and 182which pump new and re-circulating fluid to be concentrated into theconcentrator assembly 120. Still further, the controller 302 mayimplement a pressure control loop to control the position of the damper198 to assure proper operation of the fluid scrubber 122. Of course,while the controller 302 is illustrated in FIG. 9 as a single controllerdevice that implements these various control loops, the controller 302could be implemented as multiple different control devices by, forexample, using multiple different PLCs.

As will be understood, the concentrator 110 described herein directlyutilizes hot waste gases in processes after the gases have beenthoroughly treated to meet emission standards, and so seamlesslyseparates the operational requirements of the process that generates thewaste heat from the process which utilizes the waste heat in a simple,reliable and effective manner.

In addition to being an important component of the concentrator 110during operation of the concentrator 110, the automated or manuallyactuated flare cap 134 described herein can be used in a standalonesituation to provide weather protection to a flare or to a flare and aconcentrator combination when the flare stands idle. With the flare cap134 closed, the interior of the metal shell of the flare 130 along withthe refractory, burners and other critical components of the flareassembly 115 and the heat transfer assembly 117 are protected fromcorrosion and general deterioration related to exposure to the elements.In this case, the controller 302 may operate the flare cap motor 135 tokeep the flare cap 134 fully open or partially closed during idling ofthe flare 130. Moreover, beyond using a flare cap 134 that closesautomatically when the flare 130 shuts down or that opens automaticallywhen the flare 130 is ignited, a small burner, such as the normal pilotlight, may be installed inside of the flare 130 and may be run when theflare 130 is shut down but while the flare cap 134 held closed. Thissmall burner adds further protection against deterioration of flarecomponents caused by dampness, as it will keep the interior of the flare130 dry. An example of a stand alone flare that may use the flare cap134 described herein in a stand-alone situation is a stand-by flareinstalled at a landfill to ensure gas control when a landfill gas fueledpower plant is off-line.

While the liquid concentrator 110 has been described above as beingconnected to a landfill flare to use the waste heat generated in thelandfill flare, the liquid concentrator 110 can be easily connected toother sources of waste heat. For example, FIG. 10 illustrates theconcentrator 110 modified so as to be connected to an exhaust stack of acombustion engine plant 400 and to use the waste heat from the engineexhaust to perform liquid concentration. While, in one embodiment, theengine within the plant 400 may operate on landfill gas to produceelectricity, the concentrator 110 can be connected to run with exhaustfrom other types of engines, including other types of combustionengines, such as those that operate on gasoline, diesel fuel, etc.

Referring to FIG. 10, exhaust generated in an engine (not shown) withinthe plant 400 is provided to a muffler 402 on the exterior of the plant400 and, from there, enters into a combustion gas exhaust stack 404having a combustion gas exhaust stack cap 406 disposed on the topthereof. The cap 406 is essentially counter-weighted to close over theexhaust stack 404 when no exhaust is exiting the stack 404, but iseasily pushed up by the pressure of the exhaust when exhaust is leavingthe stack 404. In this case, a Y-connector is provided within theexhaust stack 404 and operates to connect the stack 404 to a transferpipe 408 which transfers exhaust gas (a source of waste heat) from theengine to an expander section 410. The expander section 410 mates withthe quencher 159 of the concentrator 110 and provides the exhaust gasfrom the engine directly to the concentrator assembly 120 of theconcentrator 110. It is typically not necessary to include an air bleedvalve upstream of the concentrator section 120 when using engine exhaustas a source of waste heat because exhaust gas typically leaves an engineat less than 900 degrees Fahrenheit, and so does not need to be cooledsignificantly before entering the quencher 159. The remaining parts ofthe concentrator 110 remain the same as described above with respect toFIGS. 3-8. As a result, it can be seen that the liquid concentrator 110can be easily adapted to use various different sources of waste heatwithout a lot of modification.

Generally, when controlling the liquid concentrator 110 of FIG. 10, thecontroller will turn on the induced draft fan 190 while the engine inthe plant 400 is running. The controller will increase the speed of theinduced draft fan 190 from a minimal speed until the point that most orall of the exhaust within the stack 404 enters the transfer pipe 408instead of going out of the top of the exhaust stack 404. It is easy todetect this point of operation, which is reached when, as the speed ofthe induced draft fan 190 is increased, the cap 406 first sits back downon the top of the stack 404. It may be important to prevent increasingthe speed of the induced draft fan 190 above this operational point, soas to not create any more of a negative pressure within the concentrator110 than is necessary, and thereby assuring that the operation of theconcentrator 110 does not change the back pressure and, in particular,create undesirable levels of suction experienced by the engine withinthe plant 400. Changing the back pressure or applying suction within theexhaust stack 404 may adversely effect the combustion operation of theengine, which is undesirable. In one embodiment, a controller (not shownin FIG. 10), such as a PLC, may use a pressure transducer mounted in thestack 404 close to the location of the cap 406 to continuously monitorthe pressure at this location. The controller can then send a signal tothe variable frequency drive on the induced draft fan 190 to control thespeed of the induced draft fan 190 to maintain the pressure at adesirable set point, so as to assure that undesirable back pressure orsuction is not being applied on the engine.

FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate a side cross-sectional view, and a topcross-sectional view, of another embodiment of a liquid concentrator500. The concentrator 500 is shown in a generally vertical orientation.However, the concentrator 500 shown in FIG. 11 may be arranged in agenerally horizontal orientation or a generally vertical orientationdepending on the particular constraints of a particular application. Forexample, a truck mounted version of the concentrator may be arranged ina generally horizontal orientation to allow the truck-mountedconcentrator to pass under bridges and overpasses during transport fromone site to another. The liquid concentrator 500 has a gas inlet 520 anda gas exit 522. A flow corridor 524 connects the gas inlet 520 to thegas exit 522. The flow corridor 524 has a narrowed portion 526 thataccelerates the gas through the flow corridor 524. A liquid inlet 530injects a liquid into the gas stream prior to the narrowed portion 526.In contrast to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the narrowed portion 526 of theembodiment of FIG. 11 directs the gas-liquid mixture into a cyclonicchamber 551. The cyclonic chamber 551 enhances the mixing of the gas andliquid while also performing the function of the demister in FIG. 1. Thegas-liquid mixture enters the cyclonic chamber 551 tangentially (seeFIG. 12) and then moves in a cyclonic manner through the cyclonicchamber 551 towards a liquid outlet area 554. The cyclonic circulationis facilitated by a hollow cylinder 556 disposed in the cyclonic chamber551 that conducts the gas to the gas outlet 522. The hollow cylinder 556presents a physical barrier and maintains the cyclonic circulationthroughout the cyclonic chamber 551 including the liquid outlet area554.

As the gas-liquid mixture passes through the narrowed portion 526 of theflow corridor 524 and circulates in the cyclonic chamber 551, a portionof the liquid evaporates and is absorbed by the gas. Furthermore,centrifugal force accelerates movement of entrained liquid droplets inthe gas towards the side wall 552 of the cyclonic chamber 551 where theentrained liquid droplets coalesce into a film on the side wall 552.Simultaneously, centripetal forces created by an induction fan 550collect the demisted gas flow at the inlet 560 of the cylinder 556 anddirect the flow to the gas outlet 522. Thus, the cyclonic chamber 551functions both as a mixing chamber and a demisting chamber. As theliquid film flows towards the liquid outlet area 554 of the chamber dueto the combined effects of the force of gravity and the cyclonic motionwithin cyclonic chamber 551 toward the liquid outlet area 554, thecontinuous circulation of the gas in the cyclonic chamber 551 furtherevaporates a portion of the liquid film. As the liquid film reaches theliquid outlet area 554 of the cyclonic chamber 551, the liquid isdirected through a re-circulating circuit 542. Thus, the liquid isre-circulated through the concentrator 500 until a desired level ofconcentration is reached. A portion of the concentrated slurry may bedrawn off through an extraction port 546 when the slurry reaches thedesired concentration (this is called blowdown). Fresh liquid is addedto the circuit 542 through a fresh liquid inlet 544 at a rate equal tothe rate of evaporation plus the rate of slurry drawn off through theextraction port 546.

As the gas circulates in the cyclonic chamber 551, the gas is cleansedof entrained liquid droplets and drawn towards the liquid discharge area554 of the cyclonic chamber 551 by the induction fan 550 and towards aninlet 560 of the hollow cylinder 556. The cleansed gas then travelsthrough the hollow cylinder 556 and finally vents through the gas exit522 to the atmosphere or further treatment (e.g., oxidization in aflare).

FIG. 13 illustrates a schematic view of a distributed liquidconcentrator 600 configured in a manner that enables the concentrator600 to be used with many types of sources of waste heat, even sources ofwaste heat that are located in places that are hard to access, such ason the sides of buildings, in the middle of various other equipment,away from roads or other access points, etc. While the liquidconcentrator 600 will be described herein as being used to process orconcentrate leachate, such as leachate collected from a landfill, theliquid concentrator 600 could be used to concentrate other types ofliquids as well or instead including many other types of wastewaters.

Generally speaking, the liquid concentrator 600 includes a gas inlet620, a gas outlet or a gas exit 622, a flow corridor 624 connecting thegas inlet 620 to the gas exit 622 and a liquid re-circulating system625. A concentrator section has a flow corridor 624 that includes aquencher section 659 including the gas inlet 620 and a fluid inlet 630,a venturi section 626 disposed downstream of the quencher section 659,and a blower or draft fan 650 connected downstream of the venturisection 626. The fan 650 and a flooded elbow 654 couple a gas outlet ofthe concentrator section (e.g., an outlet of the venturi section 626) toa piping section 652. The flooded elbow 654, in this case, forms a 90degree turn in the flow corridor 624. However, the flooded elbow 654could form a turn that is less than or more than 90 degrees if desired.The piping section 652 is connected to a demister, in this caseillustrated in the form of a crossflow scrubber 634, which is, in turn,connected to a stack 622A having the gas exit 622.

The re-circulating system 625 includes a sump 636 coupled to a liquidoutlet of the crossflow scrubber 634, and a re-circulating or recyclepump 640 coupled between the sump 636 and a piping section 642 whichdelivers re-circulated fluid to the fluid inlet 630. A process fluidfeed 644 also delivers leachate or other liquid to be processed (e.g.,concentrated) to the fluid inlet 630 to be delivered to the quenchersection 659. The re-circulating system 625 also includes a liquidtakeoff 646 connected to the piping section 642, which delivers some ofthe recycled fluid (or concentrated fluid) to a storage, settling andrecycle tank 649. The heavier or more concentrated portions of theliquid in the settling tank 649 settle to the bottom of the tank 649 assludge, and are removed and transported for disposal in concentratedform. Less concentrated portions of the liquid in the tank 649 aredelivered back to the sump 636 for reprocessing and furtherconcentration, as well as to assure that an adequate supply of liquid isavailable at the liquid inlet 630 at all times so to ensure that dryparticulate is not formed. Dry particulate can form at reduced ratios ofprocess fluid to hot gas volumes.

In operation, the quencher section 659 mixes fluid delivered from theliquid inlet 630 with gas containing waste heat collected from, forexample, an engine muffler and stack 629 associated with an internalcombustion engine (not shown). The liquid from the fluid inlet 630 maybe, for example, leachate to be processed or concentrated. Asillustrated in FIG. 13, the quencher section 659 is connected verticallyabove the venturi portion 626 which has a narrowed portion that operatesto accelerate the flow of gas and liquid through a section of the fluidflow corridor 624 immediately downstream of the venturi portion 626 andupstream of the fan 650. Of course, the fan 650 operates to create a lowpressure region immediately downstream of the venturi portion 626,drawing gas from the stack 629 through the venturi portion 626 and theflooded elbow 654 and causing mixing of the gas and liquid.

As noted above, the quencher section 659 receives hot exhaust gas fromthe engine exhaust stack 629 and may be connected directly to anydesired portion of the exhaust stack 629. In this illustratedembodiment, the engine exhaust stack 629 is mounted on an outside of abuilding 631 that houses one or more electric power generators thatgenerate electric power using landfill gas as a combustion fuel. In thiscase, the quencher section 659 may be connected directly to a condensatetake off (e.g., a weep leg) associated with the stack 629 (i.e., a lowerportion of the exhaust stack 629). Here, the quencher section 659 may bemounted immediately below or adjacent to the stack 629 requiring only afew inches or at most a few feet of expensive, high temperature pipingmaterial to connect the two together. If desired, however, the quenchersection 659 may be coupled any other portion of the exhaust stack 629,including, for example, to the top or to a middle portion of the stack629 via appropriate elbows or takeoffs.

As noted above, the liquid inlet 630 injects a liquid to be evaporated(e.g., landfill leachate) into the flow corridor 624 through thequencher section 659. If desired, the liquid inlet 630 may include areplaceable nozzle for spraying the liquid into the quencher section659. The liquid inlet 630, whether or not equipped with a nozzle, mayintroduce the liquid in any direction, from perpendicular to parallel tothe gas flow as the gas moves through the flow corridor 624. Moreover,as the gas (and the waste heat stored therein) and liquid flow throughthe venturi portion 626, the venturi principle creates an acceleratedand turbulent flow that thoroughly mixes the gas and liquid in the flowcorridor 624 immediately downstream of the venturi section 626. As aresult of the turbulent mixing, a portion of the liquid rapidlyvaporizes and becomes part of the gas stream. This vaporization consumesa large amount of the heat energy within the waste heat as latent heatthat exits the concentrator system 600 as water vapor within the exhaustgas.

After leaving the narrowed portion of the venturi section 626, thegas/liquid mixture passes through the flooded elbow 654 where the flowcorridor 624 turns 90 degrees to change from a vertical flow to ahorizontal flow. The gas/liquid mixture flows past the fan 650 andenters a high pressure region at the downstream side of the fan 650,this high pressure region existing in the piping section 652. The use ofa flooded elbow 654 at this point in the system is desirable for atleast two reasons. First, the liquid at the bottom portion of theflooded elbow 654 reduces erosion at the turning point in the flowcorridor 624, which erosion would normally occur due to suspendedparticles within the gas/liquid mixture flowing at high rates of speedthrough a 90 degree turn and impinging at steep angles directly on thebottom surfaces of a conventional elbow were the flooded elbow 654 notemployed. The liquid in the bottom of the flooded elbow 654 absorbs theenergy in these particles and therefore prevents erosion on the bottomsurface of the flooded elbow 654. Still further, liquid droplets whichstill exist in the gas/liquid mixture as this mixture arrives at theflooded elbow 654 are more easily collected and removed from the flowstream if they impinge upon a liquid. That is, the liquid at the bottomof the flooded elbow 654 operates to collect liquid droplets impingingthereon because the liquid droplets within the flow stream are moreeasily retained when these suspended liquid droplets come into contactwith a liquid. Thus, the flooded elbow 654, which may have a liquidtakeoff (not shown) connected to, for example, the re-circulatingcircuit 625, operates to remove some of the process fluid droplets andcondensation from the gas/liquid mixture exiting the venturi section626.

Importantly, the gas/liquid mixture while passing through the venturisection 626 quickly approaches the adiabatic saturation point, which isat a temperature that is much lower than that of the gas exiting thestack 629. For example, while the gas exiting the stack 629 may bebetween about 900 and about 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, the gas/liquidmixture in all sections of the concentrator system 600 downstream of theventuri section 626 will generally be in the range of 150 degrees to 190degrees Fahrenheit, although it can range higher or lower than thesevalues based on the operating parameters of the system. As a result,sections of the concentrator system 600 downstream of the venturisection 626 do not need to be made of high temperature resistantmaterials and do not need to be insulated at all or to the degree thatwould be necessary for transporting higher temperature gases ifinsulation were to be applied for the purpose of more fully utilizingthe waste heat content of the inlet hot gas. Still further the sectionsof the concentrator system 600 downstream of the venturi section 626disposed in areas, such as along the ground that people will come intocontact with, without significant danger, or with only minimal exteriorprotection. In particular, the sections of the concentrator systemdownstream of the venturi section 626 may be made of fiberglass and mayneed minimal or no insulation. Importantly, the gas/liquid stream mayflow within the sections of the concentrator system downstream of theventuri section 626 over a relatively long distance while maintainingthe gas/liquid mixture therein at close to the adiabatic saturationpoint, thereby allowing the piping section 652 to easily transport theflow stream away from the building 631 to a more easily accessiblelocation, at which the other equipment associated with the concentrator600 can be conveniently disposed. In particular, the piping section 652may span 20 feet, 40 feet, or even longer while maintaining the flowtherein at close to the adiabatic saturation point. Of course, theselengths may be longer or shorter based on ambient temperature, the typeof piping and insulation used, etc. Moreover, because the piping section652 is disposed on the high pressure side of the fan 650, it is easierto remove condensation from this stream. In the example embodiment ofFIG. 13, the piping section 652 is illustrated as flowing past orbeneath an air cooler associated with the engines within the building631. However, the air cooler of FIG. 13 is merely one example of thetypes of obstructions that may be located close to the building 631which make it problematic to place all of the components of theconcentrator 600 in close proximity to the source of the waste heat (inthis case, the stack 629). Other obstructions could include otherequipment, vegetation such as trees, other buildings, inaccessibleterrain without roads or easy access points, etc.

In any event, the piping section 652 delivers the gas/liquid stream atclose to the adiabatic saturation point to the demister 634, which maybe, for example, a crossflow scrubber. The demister 634 operates toremove entrained liquid droplets from the gas/liquid stream. The removedliquid collects in the sump 636 which directs the liquid to the pump640. The pump 640 moves the liquid through the return line 642 of there-circulating circuit 625 back to the liquid inlet 630. In this manner,the captured liquid may be further reduced through evaporation to adesired concentration and/or re-circulated to prevent the formation ofdry particulate. Fresh liquid to be concentrated is input through thefresh liquid inlet 644. The rate of fresh liquid input into there-circulating circuit 625 should be equal to the rate of evaporation ofthe liquid as the gas-liquid mixture flows through the flow corridor 624plus the rate of liquid or sludge extracted from the settling tank 649(assuming the material within the settling tank 649 remains at aconstant level). In particular, a portion of the liquid may be drawn offthrough an extraction port 646 when the liquid in the re-circulatingcircuit 625 reaches a desired concentration. The portion of liquid drawnoff through the extraction port 646 may be sent to the storage andsettling tank 649 where the concentrated liquid is allowed to settle andseparate into its component parts (e.g., a liquid portion and asemi-solid portion). The semi-solid portion may be drawn from the tank649 and disposed of or further treated.

As noted above, the fan 650 draws the gas through a portion of the flowcorridor 624 under negative pressure and pushes gas through anotherportion of the flow corridor 624 under positive pressure. The quenchersection 659, venturi section 626, and fan 650 may be attached to thebuilding 631 with any type of connecting device and, as illustrated inFIG. 13, are disposed in close proximity to the source of waste heat.However the demister 634 and the gas outlet 622, as well as the settlingtank 649, may be located some distance away from the quencher section659, venturi section 626, and fan 650, at for example, an easy to accesslocation. In one embodiment, the demister 634 and the gas outlet 622 andeven the settling tank 649 may be mounted on a mobile platform such as apallet or a trailer bed.

FIGS. 14-16 illustrate another embodiment of a liquid concentrator 700which may be mounted on a pallet or trailer bed. In one embodiment, someof the components of the concentrator 700 may remain on the bed and beused to perform concentration activities, while others of thesecomponents may be removed and installed near a source of waste heat inthe manner illustrated in, for example, the embodiment of FIG. 13. Theliquid concentrator 700 has a gas inlet 720 and a gas exit 722. A flowcorridor 724 connects the gas inlet 720 to the gas exit 722. The flowcorridor 724 has a narrowed or venturi portion 726 that accelerates thegas through the flow corridor 724. Gas is drawn into a quencher section759 by an induction fan (not shown). A liquid inlet 730 injects a liquidinto the gas stream in the quencher section 759. Gas is directed fromthe venturi section 726 into the demister (or crossflow scrubber) 734 byan elbow section 733. After exiting the demister 734, the gas isdirected to the gas exit 722 through a stack 723. Of course, asdescribed above, some of these components may be removed from the bedand installed in close proximity to a source of waste heat while othersof these components (such as the demister 734, the stack 723 and the gasexit 722) may remain on the bed.

As the gas-liquid mixture passes through the venturi portion 726 of theflow corridor 724, a portion of the liquid evaporates and is absorbed bythe gas, thus consuming a large portion of heat energy within the wasteheat as latent heat that exits the concentrator system 700 as watervapor within the exhaust gas.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 14-16, portions of the liquidconcentrator 700 may be disassembled and mounted on a pallet or trailerskid for transportation. For example, the quenching section 759 and theventuri section 726 may be removed from the elbow section 733, asillustrated by the dashed line in FIG. 14. Likewise, the stack 723 maybe removed from the induction fan 750 as illustrated by the dashed linein FIG. 14. The elbow section 733, demister 734, and induction fan 750may be secured on a pallet or trailer skid 799 as a unit. The stack 723may be secured separately to the pallet or trailer skid 799. Thequenching section 759 and venturi section 726 may also be secured to thepallet or trailer skid 799, or alternately transported separately. Thecompartmentalized construction of the liquid concentrator 700 simplifiestransportation of the liquid concentrator 700.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown forpurposes of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various changes in the methods and apparatusdisclosed herein may be made without departing from the scope of theinvention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A liquid concentrator system, comprising: aconcentrator section including; a gas inlet, a gas outlet, a mixingcorridor disposed between the gas inlet and the gas outlet, the mixingcorridor having a narrowed portion in which gas flow within the mixingcorridor accelerates when traveling from the gas inlet to the gasoutlet; and a liquid inlet through which liquid to be concentrated isinjected into the mixing corridor, the liquid inlet disposed in themixing corridor between the gas inlet and the narrowed portion; ademister disposed downstream of the concentrator section, the demisterincluding; a demister gas flow passage coupled to the gas outlet of theconcentrator section, a liquid collector disposed in the demister gasflow passage to remove liquid from gas flowing in the demister gas flowpassage, and a reservoir that collects the liquid removed from the gasflowing in the demister gas flow passage by the liquid collector; and afan coupled to the demister to assist gas flow through the mixingcorridor and the gas flow passage.
 2. The liquid concentrator system ofclaim 1, further including a re-circulating circuit disposed betweenreservoir and the mixing corridor to transport liquid within thereservoir to the mixing corridor.
 3. The liquid concentrator system ofclaim 2, wherein the re-circulating circuit is coupled to the liquidinlet of the concentrator section.
 4. The liquid concentrator system ofclaim 2, wherein the concentrator section includes a further liquidinlet disposed in the mixing corridor between the gas inlet and thenarrowed portion, the further liquid inlet being coupled to there-circulating circuit to inject liquid from the reservoir into themixing corridor for further concentrating.
 5. The liquid concentratorsystem of claim 4, wherein the further liquid inlet is disposed in themixing corridor downstream of the liquid inlet.
 6. The liquidconcentrator system of claim 4, wherein the re-circulating circuitinjects concentrated liquid into the mixing corridor without a sprayer.7. The liquid concentrator system of claim 6, further comprising abaffle disposed in the mixing corridor adjacent the further liquid inletso that the concentrated liquid from the re-circulating circuit impingeson the baffle and disperses into the mixing corridor in small droplets.8. The liquid concentrator system of claim 4, wherein the further fluidinlet includes multiple fluid entrances, with a separate fluid entrancedisposed in each of two or more side walls of the mixing corridor, andwherein the re-circulating circuit includes a pipe that partiallysurrounds the mixing corridor to provide concentrated liquid to each ofthe multiple fluid entrances.
 9. The liquid concentrator system of claim1, wherein the liquid inlet includes a replaceable spray nozzle.
 10. Theliquid concentrator system of claim 1, wherein the concentrator sectionincludes an adjustable flow restriction disposed in the narrowed portionof the mixing corridor, the flow restriction adjustable to alter gasflow through the mixing corridor.
 11. The liquid concentrator system ofclaim 10, wherein the adjustable flow restriction is a venturi platethat is adjustable to change the size or shape of the narrowed portionof the mixing corridor.
 12. The liquid concentrator system of claim 1,further comprising a concentrated liquid extraction port in thereservoir.
 13. The liquid concentrator system of claim 1, wherein thefan is an induction fan located downstream of the demister to provide anegative pressure gradient through the demister.
 14. The liquidconcentrator system of claim 13, wherein the induction fan is connectedto a variable frequency drive motor that operates to vary the speed ofthe induction fan to create varying levels of negative pressuregradients through the demister.
 15. The liquid concentrator system ofclaim 1, wherein the fan is an induction fan disposed downstream of thedemister and wherein the demister includes a demister gas inlet and agas re-circulating circuit connected between a point downstream of theinduction fan and the demister gas inlet to divert a portion of gas fromthe point downstream of the induction fan to the demister gas inlet. 16.The liquid concentrator system of claim 15, further including a damperdisposed within the gas re-circulating circuit to control the amount ofgas diverted from the point downstream of the induction fan to thedemister gas inlet.
 17. The liquid concentrator system of claim 16,further including a pressure sensor disposed in proximity to thedemister gas inlet and a controller operatively coupled to the damper tocontrol a position of the damper based on a reading of the pressuresensor.
 18. The liquid concentrator system of claim 17, furtherincluding two pressure sensors, one pressure sensor disposed inproximity to the demister gas inlet and the other pressure sensordisposed in proximity to a demister gas outlet.
 19. The liquidconcentrator system of claim 1, wherein the gas inlet of theconcentrator section is fluidly connected to a source of waste heat, andwherein the demister is significantly spaced apart from the concentratorsection, and further including a piping section disposed between the gasoutlet of the concentrator section and the demister.
 20. The liquidconcentrator system of claim 19, wherein the gas inlet of theconcentrator section is mounted directly adjacent to the source of wasteheat.